


Don't Look Back

by shellreads



Category: The Last Hours Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Fusion, Alternate Universe - Mythology, F/M, Inspired by Orpheus and Eurydice (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), a little angst ngl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:14:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25014523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shellreads/pseuds/shellreads
Summary: orpheus and eurydice au lets goooooo and yes Lucie is orpheusthis story just felt too applicable to them lmao
Relationships: Jesse Blackthorn/Lucie Herondale
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	Don't Look Back

Hades's home for the dead was not an open house for mourners, but Lucie wasn't leaving without Jesse. 

She knew walking into the Underworld was a death sentence- if the dangers on the path down didn't kill her, the gods would. The gods were quick-tempered and proud, and had little interest in humanity's wellbeing; when they caught wind of her journey, they would zero their wrath in on her. But she just needed to see him. She didn't care what the consequences were. 

He wasn't supposed to go. He was too young, they were too happy, he was too good. He wasn't supposed to get bitten by a snake, wasn't supposed to leave before she could even say goodbye. Lucie was sure that if she were there, he would still be alive. She wouldn't have let Hades claim him, poison coursing through his veins or not. 

She had spent all of her days since weeping and writing, weeping while writing and writing while weeping. The grief never abated, no matter how many pages she filled with the tales of her misery, no matter who she moved as she shouted the poems and stories of her agony to the world. 

Lucie's stories had always been revered, hordes of people clamoring over each other to hear her latest piece, and her tales of loss and heartache were no different. The public, the trees, the wind, even the gods themselves heard her ringing cries of anguish, felt her pain as if it were their own. 

She was disconsolate, lost without her love, so when Apollo appeared and whispered to her about a path into the Underworld, about a way to see Jesse again, she didn't hesitate. 

The path she walked through was a glorified cave, the dank walls of stone plunging her into darkness. The light from her lantern only illuminated a couple feet in front of her, so she let her hand trail along the slick walls to monitor her movements. Eventually, the tunnel opened up into a wider walkway, lit periodically by mounted torches. Lucie kept moving, fighting the chill in her bones as she descended farther and farther underground. 

She should have expected to see spirits as she approached the Underworld, but she still gasped when the first one drifted past her. The translucent ghost, a woman who couldn't have been over twenty, floated past her, hardly turning her gaunt face Lucie's way. She pressed her hand against her throat as she tracked the ghost's movement, watching until she faded into darkness. She couldn't stop thinking about who that spirit was, wondering what had happened to her. Wondering if there was someone who mourned for her the way she mourned for Jesse, someone who would brave the depths of Hades to bring her back. 

When she drudged up the courage to keep going, Lucie encountered many more souls, the dead roaming around their eternal resting place. She took it as a sign she was close. 

The back road Apollo had sent her on would help her avoid troublesome sentries, but he warned her that she would still encounter some opposition. Hades wasn't stupid enough to leave any entry point into the Underworld unguarded. So she had expected to see a few people blocking the doorway, but she hadn't expected to see a giant three-headed dog blocking her path. 

Cerberus had to be four times her height, three pairs of teeth glinting as it snarled at her. She had expected Hades's hound to be monitoring the primary entrance, but it must have smelled her and raced to expunge the intruder. Somehow she doubted it planned on calmly escorting her out. 

Cerberus's muscles were tensed, legs prepping to launch himself at her, when Lucie started reciting her writing. The melodic way she spoke coupled with the beautiful stories she wove soon entranced the dog, and before long its head was swaying along with the rhythm of her words. Cerberus sat, basking in the beauty of her storytelling, while Lucie slipped past.

After she had enraptured Cerberus, it was easy to do the same to the smattering of guards posted around the entrance. She had finally made it, had finally reached the Underworld. But as she scanned the vast lands, she knew her search was far from over. 

Her eyes scoured the different sectors, scouring the Asphodel Meadows, Elysium, even The Isle of the Blessed for her lost lover, but they were too far away for her to make out any faces. She knew he couldn't be in the Mourning Fields because they had been in a happy, requited love. And there's no way he could have been sent to Tartarus, so she didn't even worry about finding out how to reach the land of punishment far beneath the Underworld. 

She didn't know where to begin looking, and there was a high likelihood of her getting lost within the first ten minutes of her search, so she sought assistance. Securing an audience with Hades was surprisingly easy when you were already in the Underworld. All Lucie had to do was find the giant looming palace and head that way. The path was a straight-shot, so Lucie hurried, reciting her stories under her breath and avoiding the indignant gaze of every guard she passed. 

The castle was imposing, its massive walls carved entirely from black stone and set with soaring spires and sharp arches. Lucie's mortal hands looked frail against the towering door as she used all of her weight to push it open. Her feet clapped on the smooth flooring as she took in her surroundings, trying to surmise which hallway would take her to the god of the Underworld. 

She was relieved from making a decision when an imposing figure materialized in front of her. She flinched, jumping back a solid foot when the tall man appeared, his arms crossed as he took her in, seemingly unimpressed with what he saw. _Hades_.

She really wished that she could have come during fall or winter, when Persephone was with Hades- people always said she made him more agreeable. But, unfortunately, it was spring, and Persephone was up on Earth with her mother, leaving Lucie alone with the god. She gulped. 

"What are you doing here, mortal?" Hades looked disinterested, if vaguely annoyed, but not angry. She didn't see any storm brewing in his eyes, any tightening in his jaw that indicated he might smite her right then and there. But she knew better than to feel comfortable; a calm demeanor didn't mean she was safe, especially not when dealing with a god. 

Lucie was sure to avert her eyes as she made her case. She pleaded with him, but his face was hard as stone. He held no compassion for her case as he told her that no one who entered the land of the dead gets to return to the land of the living, even with a lover's desperate plea. Her outpouring of emotion didn't infiltrate his dispassionate disposition, so she did the only thing she knew- she told him her stories. She let her voice become musical as she recounted her misery, let her inflection show just how deep her pain went. And slowly, Hades's unfeeling attitude dissolved. His brow creased, his arms falling back to his sides as he listened to the stories and the poems she had created. The beauty of her stories moved him.

After moments of deliberation, he struck deal with her. "You may take your lover and return the way you came. But, I have on condition. You must walk in front of him, keeping your back to him for the entire journey to the surface. Reach land without turning around and he will be yours once again, but if you take one look backwards at him, he will return to me for eternity."

What a small, small cost for her love back. Lucie felt tears pricking her eyes. "I accept. I- thank you, I don't-"

"Enough. I hate groveling. Now take him and leave." With a flippant wave of his hand, Jesse appeared. He emerged out of thin air, summoned by whatever magic the gods had, his eyes flitting around in disorientation before they landed on Lucie. 

Lucie's heart stopped beating before skipping into double-time. He looked just how she remembered him, inky black hair falling a little too long over his forehead, his piercing green eyes boring into hers in shock. He was still wearing the white chiton he had been when she found him. She scanned him from head to toe, every inch of him looking like her husband, her like _Jesse_ -

"Lucie?" Jesse whispered, as if he was afraid that if he spoke too loud she would vanish, as if the force of his breath would blow her away. His face was soft, a mixture of joy and apprehension in his eyes. He didn't think she was real. It was breaking her heart. 

She only managed to breathe out "Jesse," before she was hurling herself into his arms. If seeing her didn't make him believe she was really there, the press of her body against his did. He wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her neck as he inhaled her smell. She curled his fingers into the fine hair at his nape, murmuring his name like a prayer. Pulling back, she grasped Jesse's face in her hands, drinking in the sight of him. Before she could think about the fact that they had an audience- a _god_ no less- Lucie smashed her mouth against her husbands. She let the press of his lips against hers slowly burn away the sorrow, the fear, the grief. His kiss was intense, erasing all of the time they spent thinking they would never have this again, never have each other again. 

Jesse pulled away first, blushing furiously as he glanced shyly at Hades, who just looked at us with an unreadable expression on his face. Lucie was inclined to call it distaste mixed with yearning. Jesse turned back to her, eyes wide as he took her in. Suddenly, his gaze turned worried. "How are you here, love? Are you okay? What happened?"

"No, Jesse, I'm fine, it's nothing like that. I'm here to take you home."

Jesse looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "What?"

"I came down here to get you back, and I've come to an agreement with Hades. He's letting me take you back home. To the realm of the living."

He looked unconvinced, and she couldn't blame him. If she were in his shoes, she wouldn't believe this either, so she explained Hades's deal as simply as she could. Slowly, Jesse's doubtful face started to morph into a hopeful one. "We can go home?"

"We can go home." She flashed him the first true smile she'd produced since he died. 

He pulled her into his arms again, his breath harsh against her ear as he whispered, "home, home, home."

It seems Jesse knew that Hades disliked gratitude, or maybe he was just scared the god would change his mind, because he grabbed her hand and led them out without another word. When they reached the pathway leading back to the mortal realm, Lucie took up position in front of Jesse. 

"I've missed you so much, Jesse," Lucie says, roving her eyes over him one last time before they enter the tunnel. 

He ran his fingers through her hair. "Me too, Luce. You have no idea."

Planting a final kiss on his lips, Lucie turned around and promptly marched into the darkness. 

They filled the beginning journey with chatter, but it wasn't until it petered out that Lucie realized how anxious she was about this task. The gods were heartless and sadistic. There must be some kind of catch to this deal, something she missed that Hades's is laughing himself hoarse at right now. There's no way he would let a soul leave, at least not that easily. 

Maybe he wasn't letting her take Jesse. Maybe this was some cruel joke, the man she saw a mere apparition of her husband, so that when she finally reached the surface, she would turn around and see nothing but empty space. 

Doubt seeped into her mind. "Jesse?"

"Yes, love?"

She loosed a sigh of relief. "Sorry, I was just checking to make sure you're still here."

"Of course I am," he laughed, "Where else would I go?"

She huffed through her nose. She needed to calm down. Jesse is here, Jesse is right behind her. Except the longer she focused on it, she thinks she can't hear his footsteps. They sounded faded, like echoes bouncing off of the cave walls. She needed to check, needed to make sure he was still there-

"I'm here, Luce. Stop freaking out, I'm right behind you. Look, we're almost done," he said, and Lucie figured he was referring to the faint light she could see far ahead of them. They were almost there. Only a couple more minutes of patience and she would have Jesse for the rest of their lives. But now she couldn't hear him. Yes, that sound was definitely echoes, echoes of her own footsteps. Jesse wasn't there, Hades had _tricked_ her, and she just _had to check_ -

As she stepped into the streaming sunlight, Lucie whipped around, sure Hades had deceived her. But when she turned backwards, all she saw was Jesse's horrified face, his quiet gasp before he vanished. 

"No." Lucie said. She would go back after him, she would find some way to get him. But when she tried to step into the cave, she was met with an invisible force blocking the entrance. "No, no, no, no, no!"

Lucie fell to her knees, banging her hands against the unmoving obstacle separating her from her love. She had ruined it; she had ruined it all.

The only stories Lucie wrote after that were those of woe.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not a history buff so I'm sorry if the tale or the descriptions are a little different than the original myth :( but please let me know if you guys liked it!!


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